Global rating of the product: 4.5 stars

D12 is back, ready to stalk the face of the world again with their witty lyrical assault. After the loss of their homie Deshaun Holton better known as Big Proof, many of their enemies prayed for the group’s demise. Little did they know about the group’s powerful mind. D12 is back and Detroit is in the house again. The Return of the Dozen features numerous Detroit talents, including Royce da 5.9, King Gordy, Young Miles, Marv Won, T Flame, Quest Mc Quody, Rock Bottom artists, the beautiful and skilled Monica Blaire, just to name a few…

On a relaxing musical background, the D12 crew announce their come back with a brand new style of their own. Be prepared for some powerful mob music!

Dolo first introduces the CD; soon Swifty and Kuniva will expose their lyrical craft. Any hip hop head should definitely love the track that is built on loud and powerful heartbeat alike drums. D12 is killing it for real.

We Back sounds like an euphoria blossom. Again, Swifty Mc Vay sends powerful lyrical grenades on a soft violin, oboe and piano background. Bizarre goes on, ready to stomp his auditorium. Explosive sounding lyrics will leave haters in a mental state of devastation.

DJ Salam Wreck leads the listeners into the Throw Them Up High atmosphere. What the hell of an atmophere, in which our emcees excel in bringing their skills to light.

A must hear song that totally enlightens Kon Artis, Kuniva and Swifty’s skills is The Drill. The rhythmic, chaotic song based on piano and keyboard sounds. The lyrical effort is obvious, the flow delivery well mastered.
Creep with them in the hood, follow their moves, feel the unsafe ambience of the track.
The crowds of listeners will be mesmerized, for sure.

Cheating In The Bedroom features two brilliant Detroit talents, King Gordy and Monica Blaire. Ready for some bedroom drama. Let King Gordy break it down for you while Monica Blaire’s warm voice is playing with them listeners.

I’m a G features Akon and Maestro. The noisy background totally matches with the 7 Mile scary landscape. Guntalk is law in the hood of the Murder Capital.

If You Want is another powerful track in which Kuniva will amaze you with his well mastered craft. The emcee has a merciless attitude that he intelligenty combines with well thought lyrics and dark vocals. You don’t wanna beef with him, do you? Be ready for war, fellows. Strident keyboard sounds are combined with gun sounds. Big Proof is mentioned in the song.

Swifty Mc Vay is taking over in U Never Know. The talented emcee will expose the hood for you listeners, followed by Bizarre. Welcome to a world in which danger is your daily part. A straight reminder: the hood is a jungle where you can get killed for nothing. Let them D12 emcees amaze you. By the way, Kon Artis’ part needs to be underlined too, because t is incredibly well handled.

Welcome to a Biggie styled song. I’m Gone featuring lets you enter into a bad guy’s mind. He’s giving up, after a life of sins. He’s about to take his life. Who’s gonna have mercy on this rotten soul?

Win Or Lose features King Gordy. Again the song totally enlightens Swifty Mc Vay’s lyrical force. I enjoyed the roughness of his voice, his determined spirit to conquer his audience. King Gordy will guide you into a cosmic, unreal atmosphere with the lighter tones his voice has to offer. I recommend this song for a listen.

Claps, a cadenced piano background…here we are in the 313 with our D 12 crew. I’m From The D has some beautiful sarcastic, hardcore-minded accents.

Suicide features Sindy Sirynge (Bizarre’s wife)…meet a jealous man’s anger while the music makes you feel the tension within the couple. Listen to Sindy Sirynge’s complaint…suicide is on her mind…Bizarre describes human misery with a particular attention to detail.
The song also features RIP Big Proof who brings the song into a new light. The song’s complex, well built.

Globally speaking I enjoyed the whole mixtape. True to the voice of the streets, the D12 emcees came up with their genuine spirit. They put a lot of work into the mixtape that also give voice to great local Detroit talents. I’m glad the Return Of The Dozen allows D12 to illuminate their great individual talent. Word to the haters: D12 can make it- with or without Eminem. Marshall Mathers does in no way obliterate D12’s talent!

From a critical point of view, I have been a little bit disappointed by Plead For Your Life featuring Royce da 5.9. I am used to better Royce skills. However, you can cope the mixtape without hesitation!

Copyright©by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

A good dose of well placed ghetto rage, a hardcore electric guitar background, a well handled keyboard, hammering drums: welcome to 7 Mile Mob’s artistry.

Discover some dedicated emcees with a determined mobbing spirit.

Buttons Up is astutely constructed on rhythmic a piano-keyboard background. It unveils the doors to the 7 Mile MOB crew that takes over with lyrical confidence.

Haters And Bustas must be ready to get lyrically and instrumentally by a talented crew.
As the repetitive chorus “We don’t fuck with you haters”, the menace grows like a dark cloud in the sky. 7 Mile Mob are ready to pour out their rage on very rhythmic, well handled lyrics.

I recommend the song to Detroit hip hop lovers, because it truly represents the Detroit hood.

Black J’s slowly starts on claps, dark and deep rooted keyboard sounds. 7 Mile Mob’s flow amazing flow delivery needs to be underlined in any case.

I enjoyed the raw reps, the harsch attitude and the scurrilous atmosphere of the song.

Although Cutie Pie is a softer song, I think it is worth listening to, because of its swinging accents.

It has a beautiful funky flavor. Again, you will be amazed by the nice flow delivery provided by the talented 7 Mile Mob emcees.

Check them 7 Mile hip hop representatives here.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Hey people please do not forget to check out the Detroit Festival of the Arts this weekend. It’s one of my favorite events of the year and since I am an artist by nature and by schooling (Graphic Design), I will most definitely be down there.

This event is perfect for the family as there is something for everyone of all ages to do and see. I still remember getting my face painted as a youngun and my mom struggling to scrub it off later in the day….good times.

Check out the Festival of the Arts site for more info on performances and other things.

A nice ice cream and deli shop I love to frequent. I’m a chocolate addict so of course I usually go for the chocolate waffle cone. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. In my humble opinion, better than the Ben and Jerry’s right down the street. I’m surprised more people don’t know about it, but that’s why I’m telling you now.

Go check them out the next time you’re downtown. I gave a more in depth review here at my website as well.

They are located at 128 Monroe St. which is right down the street from the Hard Rock Cafe and across from the Cingular Wireless Store. You can’t miss it.

Have recent developments in Detroit slipped from your mind? Model D has recounted many of the major advances in the past year in its 16 Sweet Developments in Detroit. They include the RiverWalk, Dequindre Cut, Rosa Parks Transit Center, the Eastern Market expansion, Grandmont Rosedale Dev. Corp.’s new office on Grand River Avenue, new stores like Bureau of Urban Living, Mezzanine, and Design 99, and of course Zaccaro’s Market, restaurants and bars like the upcoming Woodbridge Pub (they have a myspace page) and Mercury Cafe , D’Mongo’s, Mudgie’s, El Barzon, and Shield’s and Angelina’s downtown, South University Village, the casinos and hotels. Also there are the many new art offerings from the Hatch HQ in Hamtramck, the new Detroit Institute of Art, MOCAD, and CAID, all of which have added space or changed drastically.

“Pay as you drive” insurance may become commonplace in Detroit someday. But will Detroit be prepared?

PAYD means that the more you drive the more you pay for insurance and conversely the less you drive the more you save on insurance. Like having to pay for gas and, to some extent, more maintenance on a car this rewards those who drive less, those who live closer to their jobs. Some cities already implement this by including insurance into the price of a gallon of gas. Now GMAC and Progressive Insurance are offering these insurance plans to even more people by placing hardware in each car that will report how many miles you drive. If many people who drive less than average switch to these plans and save money than those left on the normal plans will find that they have to pay more and will have to consider driving less in order to reduce their insurance rates. Are you prepared for that?

To many people the urban farming and agriculture movement in Detroit is invisible. Sometimes it’s a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees or in this case the gardens for the plants. But the Garden Resource Program Collaborative website does a pretty good job of being a center of urban agriculture in Detroit and what a great way to learn where to find more information about the large gardening movement in Detroit. As they say:

Lee Arthur has left a couple very long comments on a post that was originally about the movie Sicko. But his comments speak to homelessness and many of Detroit’s other serious problems having roots in race and a media bias against Detroit that continues today, even perpetuated by those who will indirectly or directly suffer from it. And did you know that Detroit was responsible for two of New York City’s most famous skyscrapers that are still standing. Yes, not only the Chrysler building but the Empire State Building as well. You can read his comments here.

Some of the best views of Detroit can only be seen from airplane, at least until Windsor builds a super tall skyscraper. Some recent aerial views of Detroit can be found here, including a slice of Windsor and a clear view of just how long and straight Grand River Avenue is. Also shown is nearby Point Pelee, the southernmost point in Canada!

When talking about moving to downtown Detroit the question often comes up of where you can do your grocery shopping. There is always CVS, various delis, and corner stores where you can get your fresh milk or eggs but now there is a more definitive answer for where you would walk to to get all of your groceries in one place. After a long wait Zaccaro’s has opened in Brush Park on Woodward Avenue and Watson. Many downtown Detroit residents can now say simply that they no longer have to drive to do their grocery shopping, even though they can, like their suburban counterparts.

For fresh produce another obvious choice is the Eastern Market where you’ll not only find the largest farmer’s market in the Midwest and one of the oldest in the nation (since 1891) but numerous small stores which fill various niches like spices and other bulk dry goods, delis for meats and cheeses, fish and wine, etc. Eastern Market has been undergoing many changes such as a move to somewhat privatize it, renovating the sheds, increasing the hours of operation for the farmers market, and opening the Eastern Market Welcome Center. The district is located northeast of downtown so if you follow Gratiot out of the central business district, after you go over the highway turn left on Russell and you’ll find yourself in the heart of the market.

There’s also a great choice for grocery shopping on the near Southwest side of the city around where Corktown and Mexicantown meet on Bagley at 18th St. on the east side of I-75 and the Ambassador Bridge. It’s the Honey Bee Market (La Colmena). And another nearby good sized grocery store is the Harbortown Market on East Jefferson (Harbortown).